When Christopher Sayles started Prominent Design & Build in 2000, he was looking to fill a niche that would offer high quality services to the Jackson area.

He appreciated the fact that design and build put the customer and contractor on the same side of the table when it came to a construction project. The business originally focused on new construction, but has expanded to include energy auditing and restoration.

Last year, Justin Hildreth joined Sayles as a co-owner of Prominent Design & Build. Shannon Maynard recently sat down with Sayles to discuss the business.

Question: What does Prominent Design & Build offer?

C.S.: We offer from the ground up construction, additions, restoration, energy upgrades, design services, building evaluation. We’re in the commercial and residential markets.

Question: Why is the design aspect important for your business?

C.S.: The creativity allows us to do something unique for our customers that may not be in the books. It allows us to customize more readily.

Fast fact: According to Energy Star, 30 percent of the energy used in buildings is used inefficiently or unnecessarily.

Question: Why have you chosen to work with both residential and commercial?

C.S.: Historically the markets have been up and down. When commercial is going well, residential tends not to be doing particularly well and vice versa. It keeps us steadier and we really don’t make a big distinction between commercial and residential. Building is building. It’s all bricks and sticks… The major difference between commercial and residential is the durability of goods that you use. Commercial tends to be more heavy duty materials.

Question: What information do you need when you meet a potential customer?

C.S.: Cost, feasibility, how ready they are to move forward… It really comes down to an interview to find out what style and what their likes and dislikes are and then trying to find a design to fit their likes and needs. The (Computer Assisted Design) program helps them visualize. We can show them exactly what they’re asking is going to look like at the end.

Question: What is energy auditing and why did you want to focus on it?

C.S.: We come and do a thorough evaluation of your building. It covers combustion analysis, pressurization of the building using a blower door set-up, thermal imaging, evaluate your insulation, windows, doors and proper seals. We make recommendations on what would be best for you in terms of cost model; what is the highest priority on things that save you money and energy and increase your comfort level. It fits really well with the restoration model. We’ve been doing things the right way for a long time but we didn’t know why we were doing them. Now we know why. There are three areas that we cover: life safety, building durability and energy savings. We don’t want to make your house too tight by putting different insulations and air sealing for example and we make it so tight that it holds carbon monoxide gas in that kills you. We have to do all of those aspects to make sure that it’s safe and ventilated properly. There’s a lot to it and every house is unique.

Question: What steps can a homeowner take to make their home more energy efficient?

C.S.: Light bulbs. Get rid of incandescent bulbs. We have gone all the way to LED bulbs. Going to LED saves up to 90 percent on lighting costs. At $10-15 a bulb and a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years, the bulb pays for itself. We’re recommending them on high-usage fixtures first because that’s where you’re going to get your best return. For example, I have a dust to dawn yard light. It comes on at dust and goes off at dawn. I had a 100 watt bulb in there that I just replaced with a three and a half watt bulb. That one fixture is going to save me $40-50 per year because of the usage on it. And that’s just the electric consumption. I’m not talking about replacing the bulb. Can I afford in the first year to pay for a $15 bulb when I’m going to save $40 in electricity? It’s kind of a no brainer. The bulb is going to pay for itself in three months. It really does take an expert eye to do an evaluation because every building is different. Surprisingly (energy efficiency) doesn’t tend to be window replacement. It tends to be air seal on the building.

Question: How has the economy affected your business?

C.S.: Dramatically. It’s affecting us because of the available markets, extreme competitiveness in our market and more regulations from government entities. It has forced us to evaluate what we do and where we want to go in the future which led us to the energy world. There’s not a lot of new building going on for the last five years… One thing that is true about any business, if you don’t change with the market, you’re not going to survive.

Question: What have you learned since starting Prominent Design & Build?

C.S.: You have to select your markets. You have to select your clients. You have to select your projects. You have to know going in to it that not every project is for you. You have to know your strengths and weaknesses so that you know what projects to take on.

Question: What do you hope to provide your customers?

C.S.: I hope to provide them with a stress-free project. Work with them on a team approach to building or evaluating or whatever service they want.

Question: What are your future goals for the business?

C.S.: My future goal is to continue to develop the energy market. We find it’s a good fit because it’s an easy sell for helping people be more comfortable at the same time saving money.